Stars: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Colin Morgan, Taron Egerton, Dominic West, Emily Watson, Jonathan Bailey, Miranda Richardson
Director: James Kent
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars
(Spoilers Ahead) The film follows a brilliant young woman named Vera (Vikander) who is from an upper class family who has dreams of attending Oxford like her brother, but her parents seem far more intent on finding her a husband to marry. She is seen in her early scenes with three young men near her side: her brother Edward (Egerton), a closeted-gay man who clearly longs for his chum Victor (Morgan) who is smitten with Vera, and Edward's other new friend Roland (Harington), who is deliciously romantic and an intellectual match for Vera. She begins to fancy him terribly, and through her brother she is given permission by her father to attend Oxford, despite his reservations about women attending university. While at Oxford, World War I breaks out, and instead of pursuing her studies (which is what Miranda Richardson's Miss Lorimer insists Vera do), she instead drops her hopes of Oxford to become a nurse, in hopes of helping her love Roland, her friend Victor, and her brother Edward.
In most films we'd see how the rest of the film played out-we'd see, for example, Edward fall in love with a different soldier and perhaps assume a gentlemanly life (he does find a gay man in the trenches, Geoffrey, who does have that asexual vibe you'd usually attribute to this sort of film). We'd see Vera either end up in Roland's arms or have Roland lost to war, with her living a less thrilling life with Victor. What you would not expect, however, is constant death. Complete and total, sprawling death to overcome the film, but this is what happens. Throughout the second third of the film, the movie one-by-one kills off all four men, giving us little respite from the pain that Vera continually suffered. 17% of all officers in Britain died during World War I (and most officers were the sons of well-off families like Vera's), so it makes sense that some families were completely hit, but rarely do movies do such a thing. Unlike most films that find a respite for our heroine, this one offers none, which works well of course with Brittain's eventual mission, which was as a pacifist writer who loathed war. Few films have offered a nobler and quieter way to espouse a hatred for war and conflict than this film, which shows the war through the eyes of Vera, a nurse, who watches as everything she loves turns to ash.
The film is filled with quiet, beautiful moments, aided by a truly excellent performance from Alicia Vikander. The movie's love story may feel a little convenient (Kit Harington is the early-century Manic Pixie Dream Guy), but it works since the two actors are so pleasing and because Vikander is the sort of actor who can achieve chemistry with everyone. She is constantly finding new facets of this character, making her fervent devotion to education actually meld into her character and not just be a proxy for audience "you should get to do it too!" sort of enthusiasm. She frequently finds a way to compromise her deep introversion with a myriad of emotions ranging from love to pain to sorrow, and it never feels like she's cashing in on any big moments. While she's giving the best performance in the film, it should be noted that her cast members are no slouches in the acting department, and I loved the way the script actually fleshes out even small characters like Miss Lorimer (there's a devastating scene where she discovers the center of her world, her brother, has died and Vera comforts her despite their thorny relationship) or Edward (I loved that the film went as far as they could with the gay thing without actually going further than history would allow). The script and the lighting are so careful to ensure that no one is left without a purpose, and every scene feels very freeform and yet essential. The movie occasionally borders into cliche and there are scenes where you almost feel like it will hit a "well now we head downhill" sort of situation, but it never does. I admit that I have a slight soft spot for British period dramas and romantic epics, but I absolutely loved this movie, and in particular Vikander's central performance. Between this and Ex Machina, she is an actor whom I am pretty much willing to see in absolutely everything going forward, and I cannot wait for the Oscar nomination that will come her way for one of the nine films she does this year.
I debated quite a bit between the four and the five star here, but I'm going with the latter. I feel like my trepidation is more about showering three films this early in the year with a five-star review (Clouds of Sils Maria and Spy both achieved them, proving that this is indeed one of those great years for women as all three are dominated by female-energy), and less about my love for the movie, which I absolutely did. I also love that in 2015 my five-star films (which generally are an eclectic bunch when I create my year-end lists) have started out so varied-an intellectual acting exercise, a straight-up comedy, and now a traditional wartime romance. It's turning into a really fun year at the movies, and if you agree, share in the comments! What's been your favorite film so far this year? What did you think of Testament of Youth? And how excited are you for the next Alicia Vikander movie?
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